Top Tools and Resources for Graphic Designers
I’ve gathered up a specific list of the tools and resources for graphic designers that I have used throughout my career and I highly recommend them all.
This list includes some affiliate links. This means that I may receive a small percentage should you decide to make a purchase. It does not make the product more expensive for you should you be interested!
I hope you enjoy these items as much as I do!
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Software & Technology
Adobe Creative Cloud
On the daily, I use Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and Bridge. They are industry standard and I highly recommend signing up. If you’re a student or teacher, they have discounts.
ProCreate
This app is only a one time fee of $9.99, and if you own an iPad, you need to purchase this and let your creativity run wild. It is truly a creative’s dream! You can create illustrations, paintings, sketches, and more.
Macbook Pro
This is the exact MacBook Pro that I use and love. It gives me enough power to run all of my programs, even Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing.
iPad
This is not only great for using ProCreate, but it pairs well with many of the Adobe apps as well. What’s better than being able to do work on the go so easily?
Digital Assets
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock works seamlessly with your Adobe applications that you’re already using. It has everything from photos and videos to 3D mockups and templates and more for all of your project’s needs.
Creative Market
Creative Market has amazing, versatile, and unique graphics, fonts, website themes, and more. I love this site not only for their variety, but every week get they give away free assets.
Place-It
PlaceIt has over 50,000 smart templates that allow you to make mockups with ease that look professional and perfect for your online portfolio or presentation. You will also find templates for social media and more.
Your Daily Workflow
Google Drive
Google Drive is by far my favorite way to store files in the cloud. I love syncing Google Drive to my laptop and storing all my files on it so I don’t have to worry about backing up my files or managing an external harddrive. It is really easy to manage and keeps my computer free of unwanted files, but the peace of mind knowing they are backed up and easy to get to.
Asana
I have been a fan of Asana for years! For me, it is the most flexible project management solution I’ve ever used. It works great to me as a single user or with a team of 15+ people.
Marketing & Social Media
Mailerlite
If you’re looking for a simple email marketing solutions that will take your business to the next level? Mailerlite will be your go-to! They have a free plan and a premium plan. Sign up with my link below and get a $20 credit.
Tailwind
Is Pinterest part of your strategy? Then this is for you! There’s a reason it is the #1 Pinterest scheduling platform. You can bulk schedule Pins to publish at the best time for engagement, work with like-minded Pinners to grow your reach with Tribes, drive more traffic to your best content with SmartLoop and track success with analytics. They recently added Instagram to their offering as well and it lets you auto post!
Grammarly
Grammarly is the best thing that has ever happened to my not so great writing. It automatically detects grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice, and style mistakes in your writing. I recommend using it as a chrome extension, which is what is linked below.
Website Development
Bluehost
I have been using Bluehost as my website hosting and domain provider for over a decade and cannot recommend them enough. Not only is it easy to set up a WordPress site in under 3 minutes, but it is very affordable and the customer service is the best around.
Creative Market
Creative Market has amazing, versatile, and unique graphics, fonts, website themes, and more. I love this site not only for their variety, but every week get they give away free assets.
Envato Market
Envato Market, also known as Theme Forest, is your go-to place for high-quality WordPress, CMS, and HTML themes and templates.
Wordpress Plugins
Head, Footer and Post Injections
If you need a way to add google analytics or other code snippets to your header and footer on your WordPress website, then this one if for you! It is easy to set up and use.
Grow by Mediavine
This is my all-time favorite social media WordPress plugin. It even allows you to hide multiple Pinterest pins on your post and fill out all of the needed SEO information for your pins so your pinning strategy is clean and top-notch.
Yoast SEO
I can’t live without my Yoast SEO plugin. It keeps me in check when writing my content and helps guide me to make sure my posts are getting the most out of them they can.
Search Engine Optimization
Google Analytics
A must-have when tracking traffic on your website, it allows you to analyze in-depth detail about the visitors on your website.
Google Search Console
Once you have set up your website, you want to be sure you submit it to Google Search Console. It also helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Google Search results.
Yoast SEO
I can’t live without my Yoast SEO plugin. It keeps me in check when writing my content and helps guide me to make sure my posts are getting the most out of them they can.